Page 1054 - Top MMA News and Mixed Martial Arts Headlines

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As badly as Thiago "Pitbull" Alves wants to get back in the cage and fight again, he'll have to wait just a little while longer before returning. Originally scheduled to face Jon Fitch at UFC 115 in Vancouver, the fight has been pushed back to August 7 in Oakland as a part of UFC 117 instead...
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The Ultimate Fighting Championship next weeks hosts its third annual show in Montreal, and in June, the organization hosts its first-ever event in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.
However, UFC officials are still targeting what they call the "hottest city of them all" for an upcoming show: Toronto.
While a recent guest on MMAjunkie.com Radio, UFC Vice President of Regulatory and Governmental Affairs Marc Ratner said the UFC is targeting Toronto as part of an overall bigger push to change Canada's criminal code.
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Following his valiant effort in a one-sided loss to Jose Aldo at WEC 48: "Aldo vs. Faber," many people in the MMA community have been calling for "The California Kid" to drop down to 135 lbs. and make a run at the title that Dominick Cruz currently owns. But in speaking with Larry Pepe on this week's edition of Pro MMA Radio, Faber made it clear that he still has intentions of staying at 145 lbs. while only dropping down a weight class for super fights. Urijah also seemed to be pretty uninterested in a fight with former bantamweight kingpin Miguel Torres, which is a bout that still has some intrigue despite both fighters' recent struggles.

Mirko Cro Cop hasn't exactly enjoyed the same success in the UFC that he once found back in Japan. The 2006 Pride FC Openweight Grand Prix Champion has only managed to compile a .500 record, going 3-3 in his time with the world's leading MMA promotion. There has been plenty of talk as to what is different with Cro Cop and why he seems to lack the killer instinct that at one time made him the most feared striker in the game. In an interview with Nokaut.com, the Croation heavyweight details what he's doing differently in order to improve his game in preparation for his upcoming bout with fellow kickboxer Pat Barry at UFC 115 on June 12.

The rumored Jason MacDonald vs. John Salter fight for UFC 113 on 5/8 is now official. MacDonald was said to be a late replacement for David Loiseau, who was to have replaced an injured Nick Catone but was scratched due to licensing issues. The fight will be the event's opening prelim.

On yesterday's Strikeforce: "Heavy Artillery" media call, former UFC heavyweight champion and current Strikeforce heavyweight contender Andrei Arlovski shared his thoughts on his upcoming contest with Antonio "Big Foot" Silva on May 15. "Pitbull," who is best known for his high-level stand up game, especially compared to other fighters in the heavyweight division, has seen himself fall victim to some vicious knockouts in back-to-back fights. Of course they came against stiff competition to say the least in Fedor Emelianenko and Brett Rogers, but Arlovski knows a third straight defeat would all but end his time as a competitive top-tier heavyweight.

As his license status remains unresolved in the U.S., notable heavyweight Josh Barnett has taken another opportunity overseas. The former UFC champion meets Geronimo Dos Santos at a July 10 event for the upstart Impact Fighting Championship promotion in Australia, Barnett announced via Twitter on Thursday. Dos Santos has a 17-8 career record with all 17 wins coming by stoppage-11 in the 1st round.

Looks like the Roy Nelson International Road To The Top may be diverted. A planned Nelson vs. Cheick Kongo fight at UFC 116 may be off due to a Kongo back injury. Said Kongo, "I have to be able to start my preparation - the thing I haven't done yet. I am still injured. I don't think it would happen at UFC 116. Maybe later but not then. I didn't get any word from the UFC [on Nelson]. I have my manager Anthony who's working on that and as of today, I'm just actively recovering and nothing else." The deciding factor may be whether or not Kongo needs surgery-if yes, it's safe to say the fight is off.

Here is a link to the MMA Live video on ESPN. They discuss Tito and Jenna, WEC PPV, and what's next for Benson Henderson & Jose Aldo. Included are statements by Tito and Jenna regarding the whole incident. Kenny Florian is part of the team bringing it some credibility.
For those who didn't know MMA Live will be debuting as an actual show on ESPN 2 on May 6th at 1AM ET, 10 PM, PST, and airing weekly at the same time on May 13th, 20th, and 27th.
In addition to this on May 8th live from Montreal you can view the Weigh In Special at 3:30 PM ET, 12:30 PM PST on ESPN.com
Preview special at 9 PM ET, 6 PM PST on ESPN2
Post Fight Extras at 1 AM ET, 10 PM PST on ESPN2
It's great to see that ESPN has jumped on board and will be giving fans a show dedicated to the sport of MMA

Middleweights were on display at Bellator 16, the promotion's first season-two appearance in Kansas City, and four fighters punches their tickets to the season's semifinal round.
The Kansas City Power & Light District crowd saw three finishes and an entertaining decision in the open-air, outdoor venue, and season-one finalist Jared Hess closed out the evening's main card with a second-round submission of former IFL champ Ryan McGivern.
Bellator 16 took place Thursday night and aired on FOX Sports Net.
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UFC welterweight Brian Foster on Wednesday evening broke his left leg and will be out of action for at least six to eight weeks. Marc Fiore, Foster's trainer at the H.I.T. Squad, today told MMAjunkie.com the unfortunate news.
Foster, a Salisaw, Okla. resident when he's not at the H.I.T. Squad's gym in Granite City, Ill., was playing basketball with players from a local high school when he fell and broke his tibia. He also dislocated his ankle.
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Sherdog.com has just reported that a 195-pound catchweight bout between Robbie Lawler vs. Renato "Babalu" Sobral will headline Strikeforce's June 16th event at the Nokia Theatre Los Angeles, CA.
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Norifumi "Kid" Yamamoto is now off the 5/15 Strikeforce event in St. Louis. Strikeforce CEO Scott Coker informed reporters of the change today during a conference call promoting the May 15 event, which takes place at the Scottrade Center in St. Louis and airs live on Showtime. Yamamoto was scheduled to take on Federico Lopez on the non-televised portion of "Heavy Artillery." However, Coker said the Japanese featherweight could help plug a talent gap at DREAM.14, an event which recently lost a planned 8-man light heavyweight tournament. Coker said DREAM's promoters asked him to place Yamamoto on the May 15 card but changed their minds in the shake-up.

While UFC president Dana White, the head of the world's biggest and most influential mixed-martial-arts promotion in the sport, is undoubtedly one of the most influential people in the history of the sport, the exec is not one of the 100 most influential people in the world.
That's according to Time magazine, who today released the 2010 edition of the "Time 100," an annual poll that names the 100 most influential people in the world.
Brazilian president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva topped the list. Coming in second was Taiwanese computer industry executive J.T. Wang, while Admiral Mike Mullen, the current Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, was the top-ranked American on the list.
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Moosin MMA has announced the official line-up for their upcoming pay-per-view (PPV) fight card from the DCU Center in Worcester, Massachusetts, on Friday, May 21.
"Gods of Martial Arts" will feature announcers Bas Rutten and Jeff Gorman calling all the action, beginning at 9 p.m. ET with the televised portion of the event which is available to purchase for $29.95 via cable or satellite provider.
Set to headline the event is five-time World's Strongest Man, Mariusz "The Dominator" Pudzianowski, taking on former UFC Heavyweight Champion Tim "The Maine-iac" Sylvia.
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"If I cut back down to 185, it's a completely different cut to make it and I will have completely undone everything I've done to put on the size I have. I want to make a run for the title and I don't want to keep doing things that are counterproductive to that, like fights at 195. You can't count Chuck out of any fight. Yeah, he hasn't fought in a year, and yeah, he's lost four of his past five fights, but look at what he's done over the span of his career. He's a legend and he has beaten such an incredible list of opponents, it would be a huge mistake to look past a guy like him."
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It didn't take long for the comparisons to start.
Leonard Garcia vs. Chan Sung Jung will be for the WEC what Forrest Griffin vs. Stephan Bonnar was for the UFC, and it's not a bad comparison at all. The two featherweights went toe-to-toe for 15 minutes in a battle for the ages.
And when it was all said and done, Garcia and Jung took a ride to the hospital, joking and laughing along the way. “The Korean Zombie" even nicknamed his tough as nails opponent "The Mexican Zombie" for good measure.
Through 15 minutes of crazy action, punches, knees, kicks, and takedowns, when it was all over, Garcia still had a smile on his face, and through it all the worst thing he came away with was a broken hand that will keep him from sparring for five weeks.
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Going home again. That could be the theme of “The "Ultimate Fighter Season 12” for Josh Koscheck if he is indeed chosen as a coach for the next season of the popular Spike TV reality show.
The American Kickboxing Academy welterweight got his start on the show five years ago, and if rumors stand true, the winner of the upcoming fight between Koscheck and British fighter Paul Daley could determine who will coach opposite UFC welterweight champion Georges St-Pierre.
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UFC light heavyweight champion Lyoto Machida's first meeting with Mauricio "Shogun" Rua at UFC 104 re-ignited a long running debate on judging and scoring in MMA.
The 31-year-old Machida hopes their rematch on May 8 isn't grist for that mill.
"We're both a lot more familiar with each other than we were the first time we met," Machida said through his manager Ed Soares' translation during a conference call promoting his UFC 113 headlining rematch with Rua. "So I think it just makes all that much greater for a better fight this time around."
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